Filed under: Concept Cars, Frankfurt Auto Show
Ford Iosis
The crew here at Autoblog were blown away by the Ford Iosis when the pictures were released recently. The dramatic styling of the Iosis was apparent, but the car is much more dramatic in person. The Ford Iosis is a physical representation of Ford of Europe's new 'kinetic' design language. Remember the phrase, "Looks fast while standing still?" This new design direction is best described by this simple phrase. Ford of Europe's line up has a reputation for being dynamically superior to its competitors. Now Ford wants to express this dynamic performance in the design elements of the car. You can see a little Aston Martin influence in the lines of this concept. Also, there appears to be an evolution of some current design elements. For instance, the grill and headlight arrangement seems to pull from the current Focus. The visually defined and separated grill with supporting hood and vendor lines seems to be an extreme version of the current European Focus' more subtle front fascia. Overall, the concept is beautiful. I especially enjoy the rear taillights and how the trunk and rear fenders seem to wrap around them. I'm starting to be a big fan of the four door coupe style of vehicles like the Mercedes CLS, and the Ford Iosis fits right into that.
I know that youre listening Ford. The Iosis is a fantastic vehicle, but your latest round of product planning has eliminated any hope of bringing Ford of Europes dramatic and dynamically superior cars to the US. We understand the expense of these models, and perhaps how Fords brand positioning restricts premium products. And dont get me wrong, the entire new Ford line up is incredible. However, the potential in Europes line up is untapped. So instead of messing with a good thing at the Ford brand, why not spice up Mercurys offerings. Look at what GM is going with Saturn by bringing heavily European-influenced vehicles into the US. Of course, we dont want to be deterred by horror stories of Merkur, but times are substantially different today. Come on, think about it.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
Dear Ford, I agree with the autoblog guys. Send us some of these euro Ford cars. From the photos this one looks pretty nice. It would also give you a good excuse/opportunity to distinguish one of your other brands like Mercury.
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Jay 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
This MUST find its way to US shores. If Ford wants to revamp its sales and market share, something like this is exactly what they need. If the Five Hundred looked anything like that, they wouldn't be off the auto transport trucks 5 minutes before they were sold. I wish I knew why Ford decided that Americans don't want good-looking cars.
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Dave 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
Is it me, or does this appear to be a Mazda designed car. It has alot of the elements Mazda has been using as branding: wheel arches, LED tail lights, and the headlights seem to be from the MX-5/Rx-8 family.
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Rexi 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
Holy RX-8 knockoff batman.........
she's sexxxy tho.
I'm positive Ford will eff it up with 13 inch wheel covers and cheap plastics by the time it hits our shores.
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Sovereign1_ 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
Take the 'Blue Oval' off the rear deck and attach a new company name and I'll buy it. There's just something about that F-O-R-D that makes me wanna buy something else.
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Geoff 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
It would make a fine Mercury Cougar - and I'd buy it (assuming I could afford it)
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David 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
Wipes drool off keyboard.
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moto609only 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
This is the direction Jaguar needs to go. This would make an excellent Jaguar XJ. This would guarantee a lot of new, fresh & energetic Jaguar owners & I would definitely be one of them!
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Bob Davidson 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
Looks to me like Mazda's design influence is the future of Ford. I love it. This design definitely has that "wow" factor and it would serve Ford well to get this design out there as soon as possible.
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Nae 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
Ford could take this car as is, put a Lincoln badge on it and Market it in the states either as a new Mark IX, or just skip right to X to differentiate it from the Mark IX concepts.
I know its not technically a two-door coupe, and frankly I dont care what they call it, but this car could really help revitalize the Lincoln/Mercury brand over here in the states. It would also be nice to add the Marks back to the lineup.
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qr 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
make sure we don't lose the double scissor doors though
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ZipperSeven 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
If they want to bring us Euro models, bring us the Euro Focus ST (and in that killer tangerine color too!) Ford needs something to compete against the Subie and SRT-4. Why not emphasize the cars WRC heritage in hopes of bringing more American attention to the sport.
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JAG 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
Drop the unpractical doors and put a set of regular ones and I will buy it tomorrow, it is sleek!! Ford this is the type of cars you should be selling here and give a run for their money to the eurotrash (just kidding, love those Bemmers).
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Alchemist 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
I wrote Ford last year asking why we couldn't get the C1 Focus on our shores (I bought the Volvo S40) and their reply was blah, blah, American wouldn't want to pay the premiem, blah, blah, not gonna happen...
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dwatson 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
Ford are you kidding!? this is a great looking car. The problem here is you would probably sale way to many to meet supply causing the UAW to get all moody. Better sticks with the American version of the focus, allot less demand and guaranteed not to over work your assembly lines.
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J Zeke 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
I'm torn whether this makes a better lincoln or Mercury...
Randall, would you be able to set up a poll on this? Might be interesting to see what everyone thinks.
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